Distant Stars: Frequency (Book 1)

Prologue

Your eyes were different after that day.

The young boy gazed upward, captivated by the slowly falling snow. The cold pierced through him despite his layers of clothing, turning his nose and cheeks a rosy red. The sky was dreary and gray, covering any inch of blue that had once been visible only a day before. He was briefly distracted by the puffs of steam escaping from his lips, but was quick to focus his attention back on the snow. Snows like this were common where he lived, and yet he enjoyed it all the same. It was peaceful... exactly as he liked it.

With a sudden burst, the peace was broken. A light in the sky momentarily blinded him; he threw his hands over his eyes to block it. *A shooting star...?* No, the sky wasn't visible, and even he knew that shooting stars could not be so bright.

The boy peeked out from behind his fingers, noticing that the falling object was growing bigger and brighter as it gained distance to the ground. In a brief moment of fear, he stepped towards his back door, prepared to flee. What caught his eye, however, was that the object was falling towards the woods near his house. If he was not in danger of being directly hit, then he could possibly see what it was.

The ground shook beneath his feet as it finally hit the earth, letting out a resounding *boom*. An explosion of fire, grit, and smoke rose up from far inside the forest. A frantic call from his mother told him that he should go inside, but his curiosity overtook him. What if it was a meteor? He'd always wanted to see one. And if it was something else, it could be even more interesting. The thought enticed him.

After a second of hesitation, he bolted towards the trees, his feet moving awkwardly through the snow. His mother's calls grew more desperate and even angry. He called out an apology in hopes that she wouldn't be too upset later. He could hardly stop himself with such a prospect laid out before him. *Dad would want me to explore!*

Entering the woods, everything seemed to be in order. The leafless trees swayed slightly as the wind kicked up, sending a flurry of snow towards him. He ran down an animal's trail, shoving his way through overgrown bushes and fallen branches. Once he could see the plume of smoke rising into the sky, he picked up the pace, somehow afraid that it might disappear if he didn't hurry.

Coming upon the clearing, he slowed down, panting. His heart pounded anxiously in his chest, even if it did pull him towards the object. A path had been carved through the trees ahead of him, serving as a sign of how far the object had skidded before coming to a stop. The boy fell to his knees and peered over the edge of the deep crevice, squinting. The smoke blinded and choked him. He coughed heavily, but a sudden movement from below stopped him.

He stared in both surprise and terror as something turned to look at him with an expression of horror. The wind blew hard enough to blow some of the smoke away, at least so he could make out the features of this creature. It was humanoid, but its skin seemed to be blue. The eyes were bright yellow, and something hung down from its head, resembling antennae of some sort. One of them was shorter than the other, as if it had been severed. It was sitting next to a heavily damaged device that the boy had never seen before. It seemed to be some sort of pod, like something that one could travel in. The image of it all was burned into his head.

The boy could feel his entire body going numb. He could barely feel the wind tugging as his coat, as if warning him of what was to come. The biting cold became a distant nuisance, merely nipping at his nose and cheeks. He wasn't sure what to do. Neither of them moved, afraid of what the other might do. He could see that it was hurt, and part of him wanted to help, but his logical side told him to stay away.

The creature began to breathe heavily with uncertainty, speaking a few words that the boy did not understand. He slowly stood up again, hoping to show that he meant no harm, but it was no use. Without warning, the creature suddenly let out a scream that split through the air, bringing everything back into focus; the whirling of the wind, the screaming, and his mom's calls carrying distantly on the wind seemed to come at him all at once. Light almost seemed to erupt from the creature's entire being.

The last thing he remembered was the force of being blown backwards and everything going dark.